Thousands flee as Typhoon batters Taiwan

Typhoon Aere battered northern Taiwan today, triggering a mudslide that buried a family of four as the storm's eye churned toward China, forcing nearly 250,000 people to flee coastal areas and killing at least 12 people.

Typhoon Aere battered northern Taiwan today, triggering a mudslide that buried a family of four as the storm's eye churned toward China, forcing nearly 250,000 people to flee coastal areas and killing at least 12 people.

Aere drenched parts of central Taiwan that were prone to deadly flooding and landslides. The storm's outer winds also began lashing southern China, still recovering from Typhoon Rananim, which killed at least 164 about two weeks ago.

A mudslide buried the four family members in their home in Hsinchu County, the National Disaster Relief Centre said. Two other people were missing in the landslide in northwest Taiwan.

Other fatalities included a man killed by a falling utility pole in Hsinchu. Five fishermen in Taiwan and two children in Japan drowned earlier this week in rough seas whipped up by Aere.

Flood waters also swept away a 72-year-old man in central Nantou county, while 15 others were injured by falling trees or other debris, officials said.

Torrential rains that soaked the island throughout the night washed away roads in mountainous Hsinchu county, trapping at least 5,000 people in remote villages.

Howling winds ripped power lines away from their poles in the capital, Taipei. Islandwide, about a million homes were without electricity or water.

Schools and financial markets were closed for a second straight day as the slow-moving storm's eye whirled west of the island in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. Aere was packing winds of 86 mph and gusts to 108 mph, the weather bureau said.

China has ordered the evacuation of 249,000 people from coastal areas, the Chinese government said. Aere's eye was expected to slam into Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai. It would be the second-strongest storm to hit China this season after Typhoon Rananim, which devastated the Chinese coast south of Shanghai.

Nearly 31,500 fishing boats were called back to Chinese ports, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

In Taiwan, at least 5,000 people were evacuated from villages in mountainous central regions, ravaged just weeks ago by Typhoon Mindulle, which killed 29 people. Soggy mountain slopes were crumbling, burying roads with boulders, mud and twisted trees.

Planes were grounded at Taipei's international airport early today, but they began taking off again by the afternoon.